By John Rohlf, The Message assistant editor
Westside Catholic School in Evansville is one of the latest diocesan schools to open a Design and Innovation Studio.
Back in 2024, Washington Catholic Elementary School in Washington and Flaget Elementary School in Vincennes both opened Design and Innovation Studios for early education. Earlier this school year, Westside Catholic School’s St. Boniface campus, which houses students in grades 5-8, received their equipment and held a ribbon cutting for their Innovation and Design Studio.
In March 2025, Westside Catholic Schools received a notice of award from Vincennes University (VU) and Purdue Indiana Next Generation Manufacturing Competitiveness Center (IN-MaC) for the Design and Innovation Studio funding. The notice says they supported a VU and In-MaC Design and Innovation Studio at the level of $30,000 for VU and IN-MaC approved equipment from STEM Education Works located in Lafayette. Funding for the Design and Innovation Studio was made possible by grant funding from VU through the Lilly Endowment.
“We believe that when students are given the tools and the freedom to imagine, they don’t just design projects — they design possibilities,” Westside Catholic Principal Sister Catherine Stewart said. “In this studio, they’ll explore technology, art, engineering and teamwork in ways that prepare them not only for future careers, but for purposeful lives filled with innovation and hope.”
Westside Catholic received their equipment in mid-October, at which time they tried to jump in pretty quickly, middle school science teacher Rebecca Winn said. Early on, eighth graders did a lot of hands on exploration, including getting the drones up and running, as well as running some items in the 3D printers. She said the students in grades 5-7 dug into the curriculum.
Winn said the adjustment to the new equipment was easier for the students than the teachers.
“It’s a lot more intuitive for our young students,” Winn said. “They are so integrated with computers. A lot of them have done block coding on just websites and those kinds of things. I have to work through every step of it. They’re just content to just jump right in and see what happens next.”
Sister Stewart said having the equipment at the school is very beneficial for the students. When Vincennes University President Dr. Chuck Johnson attended the December ribbon cutting, Sister Stewart believes it opened doors that some students thought they could go to college. She noted since they do not think about necessarily going to college at this age, it “opened kind of a new door for them.”
Sister Stewart said while they are “preparing for tomorrow”with the Innovation and Design Studio, it is also really important they teach the students the moral and ethical piece of the Innovation and Design Studio.
“We have to keep an account of, what are the ethics if we design something,” Sister Stewart said. “Does it impact all people? Do we leave people out? Are we inclusive? Are we not inclusive? So again, because we’re a Catholic School, that moral and ethical development is just as important as the other parts of it.”
Winn said her desire is to look for connections between reading and math and science. She said because of what the students are doing at the studio, they could have careers in the military with coding robotic arms. She also noted the expansion of 3D printing in our society.
“This is the groundwork for all of that for the students in the future,” Winn said. “And not to mention just the teamwork, just interacting with technology and not being afraid of it, trying new things and being fearless. All of those things prepare these kids for tomorrow.”
Sister Stewart, who wrote the grant, said after being awarded the grant for grades 5-8, they are now working on a grant for students in kindergarten through fourth grade at Westside Catholic School’s St. Agnes campus.
“We’re beginning to just little bit by little bit implement what they can do that will eventually feed into what we are doing here,” Sister Stewart said. “And again, it’s seamless because I’m working with the same group of people that I did this grant. So they’re saying OK, this is what you need. This is the first thing you need … Our hope is within the next couple of years, to have it all the way K-8.”
Holy Trinity School’s east campus in Jasper held a ribbon cutting Jan. 16 for their Design and Innovation Studio. We will have a story on Holy Trinity being awarded a grant for their Design and Innovation Studio in a future issue of The Message.